


Those 3 Words

by TheBrightestNight



Series: love is stored in the cut fruit [3]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Fluff, Found Family, One-Shot, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29318775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrightestNight/pseuds/TheBrightestNight
Summary: "Life is filled with bitter and hard things. When you extract pits, piths, and peels, fruit becomes an accessible and reliable source of pure sweetness, only softness." Connie Wang
Series: love is stored in the cut fruit [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2153592
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Those 3 Words

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 3 of a fun little series I've had in mind for years now, but never had a theme (other than the lyrics) to tie them together, and never really had any ideas to write more than like two. Now I'm in enough fandoms that I actually write for to do this, it's been several years, and I finally found a theme I like.
> 
> Titles for each come from Plain White T's song, _1234_.
> 
> Theme inspired by, and quote in summary taken from, [THIS ARTICLE](https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/05/9747262/asian-cut-fruit)
> 
>  **Additional Notes:** This is some kind of AU. I'm not really sure what kind, specifically. I've watched the movie and absorbed some comic things through osmosis on Tumblr. But that's it. So it's just in vague, AU Land where Quỳnh makes up with the others and Booker is also with them again, and that's all you really need to know.
> 
> Also, I don't actually know how far back this tradition goes. So,,, suspend your disbelief a bit lol
> 
> many thanks to [@shelbychild](https://shelbychild.tumblr.com/) for beta-ing!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

It had been a long day.

Even though they healed almost immediately and never _really_ died, feeling and _remembering_ the pain from wounds and broken bones took a lot out of a person. After making camp, their evening was filled with quiet exhaustion. They sat around their campfire, picking at their dinner, eyes far away.

So Quỳnh decided to try and lighten Andromache and Lykon's spirits. After dinner, she gathered a handful of plums and grapes, the cutting board, a small knife, some wooden bowls, and retreated to her tent.

Her hands made quick work with the fruit—having done this a thousand times before, and being alive for so long, certainly helped. She peeled, pitted, and cut the fruit with precision and accuracy. She still messed up, of course. She may have been immortal, but she was still human. Those mess-ups, she ate for herself.

Soon, she had two small bowls (hand-carved by Lykon) filled with perfect slices of plum, up against the edge and fanned around half the bowl, held there by peeled, pitted, and halved grapes. When she was satisfied with her work and presentation, she brought the bowls out to Andromache and Lykon.

They were still sitting by the fire. Lykon had sat back, his arms holding him up, gazing up at the night sky. He seemed more relaxed, content even. Andromache was slightly hunched. She stared into the fire, her eyebrows knitted together, expression pensive.

"Here," she said, standing between them.

They both looked to her when she spoke. With a smile, she held out the bowls of fruit for each of them.

"None for you, Quỳnh?" Lykon asked as he took his bowl.

Quỳnh took a seat next to Andromache and shook her head. "I've already had my share."

Lykon inclined his head in question as he held the bowl in both hands, looking at the fruit in what Quỳnh could only describe as reverence. Andromache had already begun eating. Quỳnh had done this many times for her before.

Andromache gave Quỳnh a little shoulder bump and smiled when Quỳnh looked over at her. Quỳnh smiled back and bowed her head.

"You cut these?" Lykon asked, finally looking up and over at Quỳnh.

"I did," Quỳnh answered, looking back at Lykon. "It is a special thing in my culture." She explained as Lykon picked up a slice of plum to examine it. "I peel, pit, and cut up the fruit for you."

"These are beautifully cut, Quỳnh. It must be time consuming," Lykon said before _finally_ eating.

Quỳnh smiled and nodded. "Yes, that's the point. It is a way of showing my love for you without explicitly saying those words. To take the time to prepare something that you can enjoy without worrying about skin or seeds."

"That's wonderful!" Lykon grinned. "Thank you, Quỳnh."

Quỳnh returned his grin. "Of course."

* * *

Apples, pears, grapes, peaches, plums, mangoes, oranges, tangerines, and dragon fruit.

A long list. A wonderful spread of fresh fruit.

Quỳnh looked at all of it before nodding and rolling up her sleeves. She went over to the cutting board, picked up the paring knife, and got to work.

…which proved to be more difficult than she'd anticipated. In retrospect, she really should've expected this. She was _hundreds of years_ out of practice. In some way, though, perhaps she had. She had bought quite a lot of each fruit, but she figured that was more because she was serving five now, not two, and less because of the fact she hadn't done this in _quite_ a while.

No matter; she'd done it for years before, she just needed to get the hang of things. Besides, that meant more scraps for her.

It _was_ a good thing they were going to be out all day, though. A fancy new mission from Copley. Now, it wasn't that they hadn't let her go with them—in fact they had enthusiastically asked her to join—but she was still finding her sea legs, so to speak, in this new world and with this new family.

Besides, this would be a nice surprise after a mission. She still remembered that feeling. Even if times had changed.

Some part of it was quite frustrating. Every time she started in on a new fruit, it was like starting over, because each fruit required something slightly different. The apples, pears, peaches, and plums were cut into slices, though their textures were quite different from each other. The mangoes and dragon fruit were cubed. The oranges and tangerines were easy to peel, but it was a task to get rid of the pith. And the grapes were _the worst_. They were small, so peeling—and peeling them perfectly—was difficult. Then she had to halve and pit them.

Still, she powered through, getting the hang of the fruit faster and faster each time she started in on a new one.

Once she was done, she laid the slices and piled the cubes carefully onto platters, while tossing the grapes into a large bowl. These, she set out on the dining table, alongside mini appetizer forks and plates. She had just finished cleaning up the skin and rinds, and rinsing off the cutting board and knife, when the others returned to the house they currently resided in.

Quỳnh could feel their quiet exhaustion as they came in and took their jackets off, but a different quiet settled over them when they saw the spread in the dining room.

"Oh, what's this?" Quỳnh heard Joe ask.

She quickly made her way to the door that connected the dining room to the kitchen and poked her head through, giving them a smile.

"A little surprise for your return," Quỳnh said. "After a long, hard day's work."

Andy smiled at her from across the room and they shared a moment, remembering the first time she had cut fruit for Lykon. Quỳnh could still remember the expression on his face, the beautiful night sky that glittered above them. (It was such a shame light pollution had taken that away. More so that Lykon was not there to share the moment with them.)

Nile ventured closer to the table, her eyes scanning all the fruit. "Wait. Did you cut _all_ of these?"

Quỳnh nodded.

"Peeled, pitted, and cut," she and Andy said at the same time. Andy's grin was playful now. Quỳnh fought the urge to stick her tongue out at her.

"That's incredible!" Joe exclaimed, reaching for a fork and spearing a cube of mango. He brought it close to his face to examine.

"That must have taken all day," Nicky commented, nodding to Quỳnh as he stepped closer to Joe, wrapping an arm around Joe's waist. "Thank you."

Quỳnh smiled and nodded back before gesturing to the table. "Please, have a seat and dig in."

The five of them did just that, sitting down at the dining table. Quỳnh took a seat next to Andy.

As Booker pulled out his chair and sat, he looked over at Quỳnh. "You aren't going to eat any?"

Quỳnh and Andy exchanged another knowing look before she looked back at Booker and shook her head. "I've already eaten," she assured. "These are for you."

They made their way through the spread, spirits raised, chatting and laughing about inconsequential things, for a change.

**Author's Note:**

> next one's tomorrow! and happy lunar new year!
> 
> reblog on tumblr [here](https://awayofunderstandingit.tumblr.com/post/642936487359496192/one-shot-those-3-words)
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoyed! Comments are much appreciated ^_^
> 
> Thank you for reading,  
> TheBrightestNight


End file.
